Two Myths of Creativity
When we think of creativity what often comes to mind are inventors such as Leonardo da Vinci or Steve Jobs, or people who have created masterpieces such as Picasso or Bach. There are many definitions of creativity, but for our purposes, we will use the dictionary.com definition; “the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination.”
Let’s dispel two myths of creativity. Click the buttons below to learn more:
Only some people are creative
Many people are classified as creative and non-creative based on their occupation. For example: artists and musicians are considered creative whereas plumbers and accountants are considered non-creative. However, anyone can show creativity in their chosen field: finding new, interesting solutions to projects, coming up with ideas within their specialty, or solving everyday problems and challenges.
Only certain ideas are creative
We often think of creative ideas as revolutionary or a breakthrough, often described as out-of-the-box thinking. In addition to revolutionary creativity there is evolutionary creativity, which results from refining ideas/combining previous ideas and gaining deeper insight into a problem. The results are new insights.